Cloud Art

by Lesley · June 27, 2016

I love clouds. You’ve probably figured this out by now. I remember moving to Portland 20+ years ago and those August thunderclouds were so huge and so low, it felt like you could touch them.

I was listening to an old episode of the Creative Pep Talk podcast and host Andy J. Miller mentioned an art installation in London that created clouds out of balloons. I had to look it up, and wow, I wish this was something I could have seen in person!

Photo credit: http://www.ianthearchitect.org/

French Artist Charles Petillon used 100,000 balloons and pulsing lights to create these clouds, titled Heartbeat, in Covent Garden Market.

Here is a cool video about it:

So then I thought, surely there is more cloud art out there? I wasn’t disappointed!

Artist Berndnaut Smilde makes clouds indoors.

photo credit: Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk

The artist team of Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan have done some beautiful cloud art installations, including this one at SeaTac’s Sound Transit light rail station in Washington.

photo credit: http://www.haddad-drugan.com/#/cloud/

Another piece they did was Iridescent Cloud at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Colorado.

http://www.haddad-drugan.com/

They also did this piece, titled Cloud Chamber, located in Seattle’s Northgate neighborhood.

http://www.haddad-drugan.com/

Artists Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett created an interactive art installation that created a cloud out of lightbulbs. 1,000 of the more than 5,000 bulbs had a pullchain that visitors could use to turn them on or off, creating an everchanging piece of art. Go to this link and just take a look at all the beautiful and imaginative works these artists have to offer, hoo boy. Some great stuff.

photo source; http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/09/an-interactive-cloud-made-of-6000-lightbulbs/

Finally, how did I not know about the Cloud Appreciation Society?! They even have a manifesto. Members can submit their own cloud art to be displayed on the website, like this beautiful piece by artist Susan Respinger.